UCLA
North Carolina (Quarterfinal)
Seventh-Seeded Bruins Advance to NCAA Final Four
May 17, 2015 | Women's Tennis
“It was a tough match," said UCLA head coach Stella Sampras Webster. "I think we played extremely well at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Beating North Carolina in doubles really took a lot of pressure off of us. This was a big match for us because we wanted to make it to the Final Four. We were prepared for UNC to come out really strong because of what happened last year. Now that we are in the Final Four, anything can happen. We are just really excited to be in the position that we are.”
After dropping the doubles point in the team's 4-1 victory over Texas A&M in the round of 16, UCLA knew it needed a better performance against the Tar Heels (30-2) on Sunday, as North Carolina entered the match having won the doubles point in 29 of 31 matches. Unfortunately, the Bruins would get into a big hole early at court No. 3 and were never able to recover, as UNC's Caroline Price and Kate Vialle notched an 8-0 victory to put a significant amount of pressure on UCLA's top 2 doubles teams. UCLA, however, has two of the top doubles teams in the nation anchoring its Nos. 1 and 2 positions so the point was far from being decided. Both matches were close, with UCLA's ninth-ranked Robin Anderson and Jennifer Brady striking first with an 8-5 win over 35th-ranked Haley Carter and Whitney Kay at court No. 1. With things now evened up, third-ranked Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips finished things off over Ashley Dai and Jamie Loeb at court No. 2, winning 8-4 to give UCLA a 1-0 lead heading into singles action.
UCLA got off to a solid start in singles, taking first sets at four of six courts. After winning the first set 6-4 at court No. 3, Brady, the nation's 47th-ranked singles player, cruised in the second set against the 20th-ranked Price, winning 6-4, 6-1 to give UCLA a 2-0 lead.
The Tar Heels answered right back at court 4, where the 102nd-ranked Kay picked up a big upset over No. 33 Harrison, the 2015 Pac-12 Singles Champion, winning 6-3, 6-4.
With UCLA now up 2-1, it looked as if the Bruins' next point was likely to come at the No. 2 spot, where No. 21 Chanelle Van Nguyen and the 16th-ranked Carter were doing battle. Van Nguyen, who won the first set 6-0, rarely let Carter into a position to attack, frustrating the Tar Heel sophomore with a barrage of deep balls that kept her pinned behind the baseline for much of the match. As a result, Van Nguyen would lose just two games in the final set, rolling to a 6-0, 6-2 win to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead.
At the time of Van Nguyen's victory, UCLA was down a break in third sets at both court Nos. 5 and 6. At court No. 1, Loeb had set point against Anderson at court No. 1. Anderson, who was down 1-5 in the second set after winning the first, fought all the way back to 5-6 on serve. Loeb, the nations' No. 7 player, even had three set points in that 12th game but wasn't able to convert any of them, as Anderson held to send the set to a tiebreaker. Once in the tiebreaker, the top player in the country found her form, moving out to a 5-0 lead, eventually taking the breaker 7-2 to send UCLA to the NCAA Semifinals. The Loeb-Anderson showdown was the only singles rematch from last year's NCAA Final, another straight-set win for Anderson.
In the other two matches on court when play was suspended, McPhillips was up 3-1 in the third set over Vialle at court No. 5, and Kaitlin Ray was tied at 2-2 in the third set with Dai at court No. 6.
"Today, we really played well starting with Jennifer Brady winning that first singles point," added Sampras Webster. "I never felt comfortable because I know that North Carolina team. I knew that second sets were going to be important and we were going to have to close them out. What Robin did today was amazing to be able to come back and win it in that second set. For her to do that obviously made a huge difference because we were in battles at those other two courts."
Added Brady, "This is a great feeling. It brings back memories from last year. We aren't really used to this in tennis because it's an individual sport but being on a team is one of the greatest moments of my life. If you talk to any college tennis player I think they will tell you that college tennis is one of the best times of their life. Getting to play with all of your friends and having all this support is special. You're not just playing for yourself out here."
In the only meeting between the two teams this year, Georgia beat UCLA, 4-2 at the National Team Indoors in February.
"Our biggest thing right now is recovery and trying to get our players' bodies and minds rested and ready for tomorrow," said Sampras Webster.
Notes: With Sunday's victory, UCLA has now reached the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth year in a row ... The last team to beat UCLA prior to the Final Four was Duke in the 2010 round of 16 ... The Bruins are now 6-2 all-time against North Carolina ... UCLA is seeking to become the first school to win back-to-back NCAA titles since Florida in 2011 and 2012.
NCAA Quarterfinals
#6 UCLA 4, #2 North Carolina 1
May 17, 2015 at Waco, TX (Hurd Tennis Complex)
| Doubles |
| 1. #9 Anderson/Brady (UCLA) def. #35 Carter/Kay (UNC) 8-5 |
| 2. #3 Harrison/McPhillips (UCLA) def. Dai/Loeb (UNC) 8-4 |
| 3. Price/Vialle (UNC) def. Terri Fleming/Van Nguyen (UCLA) 8-0 |
UCLA Wins Doubles Point
| Singles |
| 1. #1 Robin Anderson (UCLA) def. #7 Jamie Loeb (UNC) 6-3, 7-6(1) |
| 2. #21 Chanelle Van Nguyen (UCLA) def. #16 Haley Carter (UNC) 6-0, 6-2 |
| 3. #47 Jennifer Brady (UCLA) def. #20 Caroline Price (UNC) 6-4, 6-1 |
| 4. #102 Whitney Kay (UNC) def. #33 Catherine Harrison (UCLA) 6-3, 6-4 |
| 5. Kate Vialle (UNC) vs. #35 Kyle McPhillips (UCLA) 6-4, 3-6, 1-3, unfinished |
| 6. Ashley Dai (UNC) vs. #109 Kaitlin Ray (UCLA) 2-6, 6-1, 2-2, unfinished |
| Match Notes |
| UCLA 22-4; National ranking #6 |
| North Carolina 30-2; National ranking #2 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,4,2,1) |
Players Mentioned
